Top Tips For A Calm Christmas… Even With Anxiety
Over 8 million people in the UK alone suffer from depression and anxiety. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re one of them.
With Christmas TV adverts showing nothing but happy, joy-filled, festive families, it would be easy to assume that you’re alone if you’re not roasting chestnuts or carol singing at your local animal rescue centre. In reality, though, Christmas is one of the most stressful times of year for a lot of people. Add in unrelenting anxiety and you have a recipe for rapidly declining mental health.
Knowing how to manage your anxieties in advance will help you to cope in the run up to the big day.
What Makes Christmas So Anxiety-Inducing?
For me, the pressure to achieve perfection was something that hung heavy on my shoulders when I was battling anxiety. When the additional pressures of the holiday season came around, I was already at my limit and trying to do everything for everyone became overwhelming.
Speaking to my clients, they paint a similar picture. The most common Christmas anxiety-boosters I hear about include:
- An increased pressure to socialise
- Memories of past Christmases with loved ones no longer with us
- The enormous financial pressure
- Feelings of loneliness
- The never-ending workload
There is one thing that everyone has in common when it comes to festive fear – Expectations imposed upon ourselves by ourselves.
8 Top Tips For Having An Anxiety-Free Christmas
1. Keep your boundaries
Would you usually avoid having a house full of distant family members, all of whom are emptying your fridge and oversharing about their latest physical ailment? What says you have to invite them into your home for Christmas? If you’re not a social butterfly for the rest of the year, there’s no written rule that says you must grow your wings for the festive period.
2. Remember the good times
Living without a loved one might get easier in time but the feelings of loss often resurface around Christmas. Rather than focusing on how much you miss those no longer with you, try to celebrate the good times you’ve had together.
3.Make it affordable
The cost of Christmas can mount up faster than the speed of light. From presents to Christmas dinner, everything seems to increase in cost when December arrives. This year, try to make a list (and stick to it!) and consider alternatives for keeping the cost down, like making your own gifts or going halves with someone else.
4.Avoid getting into debt
Whilst keeping things affordable is vital, only spending money you have is too. Putting Christmas on a credit card may seem like a good idea in the short term, but when you receive the bill in January, you’ll be faced with paying off your purchases… And that won’t help anyone’s anxieties!
5.Combat loneliness
Being surrounded by people isn’t at the top of everyone’s Christmas wishlist, but for those of you who feel intense loneliness during the festive season, it can help you to get out and spend time with others who feel the same. You might like to volunteer to keep elderly people company or offer your time at a homeless shelter. Alternatively, a walk on Christmas Day can be a great way to be among people.
6.Look after yourself
Let’s be honest, life is busy at the best of time! When you add decorating a tree, buying and wrapping gifts, writing cards and all the other festive activities, December can be exhausting. Remember to look after yourself: Get enough sleep, eat well and keep doing the things you love – even if that is watching Tiger King on Netflix!
7.Drink responsibly
Whether your festive beverage is a Baileys or a Buck’s Fizz, try to drink responsibly. Getting drunk might be fun, but the morning after never is. Avoid the hangover (and the family arguments about who ate the last Malteser Celebration) to avoid unnecessary anxieties.
8.Live in the moment and ENJOY YOURSELF
Anxiety can take away all feelings of joy. It’s easier said than done, but try to enjoy yourself whenever you can and remember… It’ll all be over soon!
Christmas might be the most wonderful time of the year for some, but living with anxiety only becomes harder when you’re faced with festive pressures. At Piece of Mind, our diaries remain open throughout December, with hypnotherapy available to help you live the anxiety-free life you deserve and not only for Christmas, but for the rest of your life.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
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